funding

As of yet I have had no response from anyone regarding their policies or proposals on the current state of the CBSA. What I would like to know is each party’s stance on the current hiring freeze, budget cuts and the ongoing arming initiative.Why be on Twitter if you are not going to reply to followers?
If you are wondering why there are long line ups at the airports and border crossings…its due to the lack of staffing and restrictions on overtime. The lack of staffing is a result of attrition. Staff retire or move to a different department or agency and their spots are not backfilled. We have pools of people waiting for jobs but no money to hire them. Everyday we are expected to do more with less.
I understand that we are trying to come out of a recession but to cut back on an agency that is responsible for the movement of people and goods, directly affecting the economic prosperity of Canada; not to mention aside from Canada Revenue Agency, as far as I know we are the only other federal agency that actually brings in significant revenue.
So I would like to know….Mr. Harper, Mr. Igantieff, and Mr. Layton, what do you plan to do about this going forward?

I would like to know the following:

1. How do you plan to address the lack of staff and more importantly lack of funding for the CBSA?….the agency that is responsible for the security and economic prosperity for Canada.

2. What is your position on the ongoing arming initiatives?

3. What is your position on the current hiring and competition process administered by the public service commission? I find the current practice extremely ineffective as it rewards people that can write tests and perform in interviews which is not an indication of them being the best fit for the position. Much as passing the bar doesn’t mean you will excel at being a lawyer or getting your teaching certificate means you will be a great teacher.

I will probably not get a response to this post...but I’m putting it out there. I hope any Canadian reader outs there will question there MP about this. Especially those of you that I know have experienced the frustration of waiting in long lines at customs, waiting days for a response from the agency, waiting days for the results of an examination so you can get your shipment…and most of all those of you that feel that our service standards are sorely lacking. Some of these things are unavoidable….but many are not. Everyday I feel the public’s pain and there is not much I can do but do my part to try make things better…but in reality my hands are tied because we don’t have the staff, and we don’t have the resources. What resources we do have…much is allocated in the wrong way….and then there’s all the red tape.
So if you travel, import, export or even order or have goods shipped to you…please call or write your MP and ask them when they come knocking….what are you going to do about this?

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